Tanzania reviewing stance on EPA

Wednesday February 27 2019

President John Magufuli shakes hands with the acting EU head of mission in Tanzania Mr Charles Stuart at State House Dar es Salaam on February 7, 2018. The EU said the discussions between the two leaders focused on importance of structured political dialogue between Tanzania and the European Union, human rights, regional matters, economic and business environment, governance and security. PHOTO | COURTESY

In Summary

Government officials are said to be negotiating with the EU before the lapse of the four months the country was allowed by the EAC to resolve its issues.

According to sources, the government is said to have relaxed its stance on EPA as it tries to mend relations with the EU.

Tanzania has been unhappy about the trade pact, arguing that the agreement will have serious consequences on its revenues and the growth of its industries.

On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister Augustine Mahiga, in a telephone interview with The Citizen, said Tanzania is in talks with EU to resolve some technicalities and will only sign the agreement after all its issues have been ironed out.

“It is still too early to disclose the technicalities which we are yet to agree upon,” he said, adding that once an agreement has been reached, the deal will be tabled in Parliament for approval.

Integration

The move to heighten the level of engagement between Tanzania and the EU on the trade pact follows a meeting at State House Dar es Salaam between President John Magufuli and the acting EU head of mission Mr Charles Stuart on February 7.

According to sources, the government is said to have relaxed its stance on EPA as it tries to mend relations with the EU.

In early November last year, the Dutch diplomat and EU envoy Roeland van de Geer was forced out of the country, which saw the EU declare that it will conduct a comprehensive review of its policies towards Tanzania.

At the EAC summit in Arusha on February 1, Kenya, with the biggest stake in the EPA, lobbied the partner states to enforce the trade pact on an individual basis rather than as a bloc to allow those that have not signed to sort out their issues.

However, experts warn that signing the agreement as individual countries would weaken the region’s rules of origin and give rise to partner states operating on different trading regimes, a situation that is likely to compromise efforts towards regional integration.

Uganda argues that signing the pact as individual countries would compromise the unity of the region, hence its decision to wait it out.

Burundi, which was sanctioned by the EU after political unrest when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a controversial third term in 2015, has also maintained that it will not agree to sign the trade deal, given its deteriorating relations with Europe.

An official of the EAC Secretariat said Wednesday that Tanzania was yet to express its review stance to the bloc.